More Florida voters are taking a wait-and-see attitude on their new governor, Rick Scott, who
gets a 35 - 22 percent job approval rating with 43 percent undecided, according to a Quinnipiac
University poll released today. By 56 - 29 percent, voters are generally optimistic about the next
four years with Scott as governor.

But Florida voters aren't thrilled with his plans to cut at least 5 percent of the state work
force, calling it a "bad idea" 46 - 42 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack)
University poll finds.

Voters, however, say 64 - 28 percent that state workers should contribute to their
pensions, which they do not do now.

Although by 52 - 34 percent voters say they prefer cutting services to raising taxes to
meet the state's budget shortfall, they say 48 - 44 percent that Scott should not have promised to
do so without raising taxes.

By 58 - 26 percent, voters don't think Scott will be able to make good on the promise.

Scott gets a 28 - 24 percent favorability rating from voters, while 45 percent say they
don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

"'Too soon to tell,' many Florida voters are saying about their new governor one month
into his term. Interestingly, he has a better rating for his job performance than when voters are
asked if they view him favorably or not," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the
Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "This may reflect the negativity of the campaign and the
omnipresent charges by his opponents questioning his honesty as a corporate executive."

Florida voters are convinced about the seriousness of the state budget problems, with 64
percent calling them "very serious" and another 30 percent labeling them "somewhat serious."

Despite their budget concerns they back Scott's plan to cut property and business taxes
by about $2 billion, calling it a "good idea" 50 - 43 percent.

"Voters say they see a serious problem with the state's finances yet they aren't happy
with the idea of laying off state employees to save money. And they back cutting taxes which
will require even greater spending cuts to balance the budget," said Brown.

Scott, whose net worth is in the billions, has said he will only take a $1 salary and pay for
trips around the state out of his own pocket. By 53 - 6 percent, voters say that makes them view
him more favorably.

There have been numerous complaints from the news media that their access to Scott has
been less than with past governors. More than half of voters, 58 percent, say the amount of
access Scott has given has been about right, with 22 percent saying there hasn't been enough and
6 percent saying there was too much.

Asked how much their opinion about the governor is affected by his accessibility to the
news media, 28 percent say "a great deal;" 30 percent say "some;" 22 percent say "not much"
and 16 percent say "not at all."

"Although voters are basically split on his plans for state worker layoffs, they like his plan
to have them contribute to their own retirement and the fact he is taking just a $1 salary," Brown
added. "Voters don't seem concerned that portions of the news media have complained about
their access to him."

From January 25 - 31, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,160 registered voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Rick Scott is handling his job as
Governor?

TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in
Florida today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat
dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? (*combined High also 63% Sep 2004)

25. Governor Scott wants to cut about 2 billion dollars in property and
business taxes to make Florida more attractive to businesses and attract jobs.
Others say the state can't afford to lose the revenue. Do you think these tax
cuts are a good idea or a bad idea?

26. Governor Scott is taking a 1 dollar salary and has said he will pay for
his flights around the state out of his own pocket. Do these things make you
think more favorably of him, less favorably of him, or doesn't it make a
difference?